A Better Place

My father died today at two AM in the morning People tell me he is in a better place I wonder how they know I don't know death for I have never died I don't know death for I am not dead I know life for I am living I know living, being alive well The smiles of life, the tears of life The pains of life and the pleasures The suffering of life, the prosperity of life The poverty of life and the treasures The loneliness of life, the companionships of life The shortness of life and the fullness of its measure The unfairness of life, the justice of life The labor of life and the peace of its leisure I know life's journey has peak and valleys Each morning when I awake I wash my face Comb my hair brush my teeth And prepare to live another day Each night I lie down to sleep To nourish my soul with rest and dreams Of living a better tomorrow I know all about life I am alive presently living I know nothing of death except its name I know all ends in death The finality Over Through It is finished Yet my spirit hungers for more For a secret ancient knowledge That in the cold dark dampness of death An ember sparkles with light Igniting one to a better place A better place A Better Place (05/08/2008)